January 16, 2010

"The latest report on the D:A:D (Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs) Study, the largest cohort study monitoring the effects of HIV drugs, published in the Journal of infectious Diseases, reports a continued association between current or recent use of the two nucleoside (NRTI) drugs abacavir and ddI (didanosine) and heart attacks.

"Patients who were currently on the drugs or who had stopped them no more than six months previously had, respectively, a 70% and 30% increased risk of having a heart attack during this time, even after adjusting for other heart attack risks such as blood lipid level, diabetes and high blood pressure."